Love blossoms with whom you least expect it
by BaerXIIINabakov
Summary: My continuation of School Rumble. I started writing this story in 2010, after I watched the first two seasons and read School Rumble Z.  It was originally meant to be a light hearted love affair, but during the re-write I decided to make it into the extremes of love and despair.
1. A Modest, Sweaty Date Proposal

We enter classroom 2-C, in between classes. We see Harima sitting at his desk, whilst Tenma chatters with her girlfriends. While Tenma treats the day as any other, Harima is carefully planning and devising situations, about how to finally confess his true feelings to her. But he has a look of uncertainty upon his face, as he begins sweating over the possible outcomes. Plotting how to ask as subtly as possible to disguise his intentions and to keep from getting rejected in front of the entirety of the class.

The final bell rings as students begin filing out of the classroom.

'Now's my chance.' Harima thinks to himself.

"Hey Tenma" Harima barks out louder than expected. He begins to frightfully shake and sweat uncontrollably.

"Hey Harima!" shouts Tenma, oblivious to Harima's sweating and nervous shaking, "What's up?"

Harima takes a deep breath while Tenma watches him confused, "Oh nothin' just packin' up my stuff and headin' on home." he says with a joyus skip. His face suddenly turns beet red 'What are you some kind of country bumpkin!' he says to himself. "Actually I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going out to dinner with me, I'll pay." he says dopily.

Tenma takes a moment to ponder. "Okay!", she says "But I get to choose the place, and you're picking me up." trying to get the most out of her free dinner. "See you at my place at seven! Bye Harima~!" she says playfully while leaving the classroom.

Still in awe over his proposal being accepted, Harima stands next to Tenma's desk unmoved from when he asked. "Uh yeah see you at seven." he says, as Tenma had long left.

'Holy shit!' he thinks to himself, 'I can't believe I'm going out with Tenma!'. Harima went home still in utter disbelief, sporting a big stupid grin, and imagining himself marrying Tenma, they're children, and growing old together.

Time marches on as the clock hits seven and Harima is dutifully waiting outside of the Tsukamoto residence. Dressed in his best black leather jacket, slack pants, and polished black leather shoes. He approaches and knocks on the door.

"Oh hello Kenji." silently responds Yakumo as she opens the door wide for Harima. "Please come in. Tenma will be out in a moment."

"Okay thanks Tenma's younger sister." he says bowing to her.

Yakumo smiles gently "Is there anything I can get for you while you wait?"

"No thanks. But if you have sometime later, could you ink these next pages for the manga?" he asks politely.

"Sure no probl-." Yakumo tries to finish but Harima's attention is now focused on the prim and proper Tenma as she emerges from the back.

Wearing a long, aqua blue silk dress, with red 2" high heels. "Oh Harima take your princess away and treat her as if she was the finest in all the land!" says Tenma trying to sound as royal and snarky as she can muster.

Harima bows down to her as gentlemanly as possible. "Yes Madame!" he says awkwardly, completely buying into her orders.

"Hehehe." Tenma giggles, "Later Yakumo I'll be home tonight!"

"Okay, bye Tenma." she responds as she walks them out of the door. 'Oh Harima.' Yakumo thinks to herself with a worried for him.


	2. A Melancholy Dinner Date

Harima and Tenma depart on his motorcycle for the city. When they arrive in the city Tenma points out more than a dozen restaurants she wants to go to, and Harima, the pacifist he is, says they're all great.

"They all look totally awesome Tenma, but...I can only afford one." He says chuckling playfully.

"Fine!" she says in a pouting tone "How about that sushi place?"

"Very well my lady, your wish is my command!"

"Oh ho ho ho very well, then I command that you go faster." As she starts kicking him in the sides of his stomach with her crimson three inch high heels.

"Ow! Dammit those things hurt! Sto-" As Harima tries to tell her to stop she interrupts him.

"Yay we're here!" She says gleefully as jumps off the bike.

"Tenma what're you-!" As he tries to finish another sentence he runs straight into a wall. "Dammit." he says dejectedly.

"Harima!" Tenma shouts worriedly "Are you okay?"

As he tries to get up with a look of absolute rage coursing through his entire body, it is quickly wiped away after we catches Tenma's concerned look. "Oh yeah I'm perfectly fine." he says weakly while trying to put on a strong man facade. But this will not be the greatest pain he feels tonight.

"Oh that's good," she says as her face reverts back to her normal cheerful self. "well we're here be a dear and open the door for me. Your Princess demands it!"

Harima does as he is told and holds open the door for her looking as if he were one of the Queen's guards. Tenma playing up the role as much as she possibly can, strikes a royal pose and enters the restaurant. They choose out their table and order their meals. Over the course of the night Tenma and Harima's conversations amount only to idle chit chat and small talk, at best.

"Mmm that was the best thing I've even today, Harima!" says Tenma, looking fairly slovenly and well fed.

"Yeah me too, probably the best I've ever had...because I'm with you." says Harima trying to hide his red face.

"Hey! This desert looks good can we stay for desert too?" she says ignoring Harima completely.

"Oh, yeah, I mean if you're so set on it my princess."

"Hehehehe, alright! I'm gonna bleed you dry, like any good princess!"

Harima's face is no longer red in embarrassment, but rather pale at what he can only imagine the cost of dinner would be, but would be relieved shortly after the thought that he's on a date with Tenma, no cost would be too much.

"So, Tenma. I have a reason why I asked you out tonight."

"Oh yeah! What is it? Tell Me! Tell Me!" retorts Tenma, bouncing wildly, in anticipation.

The confidence Harima had recently attained was quickly gone after looking at her, bumbling he tries to get the words out of his mouth. "I...I Love... Tenma, I Love...y..."

as Harima is about to say it, with fierce determination and a mentality of nothing is going to stop me now, he is stopped, desert arrives.

"I love desert! Yum! It's always so good and stuff!" barks Harima louder than anticipated, before lowering his head in shame after such a display.

Tenma just smirks and nods in agreement, while the waiter just gives them a look as if they were insane, promptly placing the bill on the table, trying to get away as fast as he could.

They finish their deserts and leave.

"Thanks Harima!" says Tenma in her usual chipper and ignorant tone, unaware at how many hours of labour it took Harima to pay for the meal. Harima is only slightly phased by this as he considers it just the price of your wishes coming true.

"No problem, Tenma, it was my pleasure. How about we take a ride somewhere I know that's really bitchin' to watch over the city?" propositions Harima, as he devises another plan of his, without realizing the ineptitude of all his other scheming up to this point.

"Yeah! That sounds awesome!"

They again depart to a small shrine on a vista overlooking the city.

Does Harima reveal his deepest desires for Tenma? Find out in the next update!


	3. The Metamorphosis of a Relationship

Upon reaching the top of the vista, Tenma gasps in bewilderment as she takes in the astounding view of the city, nestled between mountains and a coastline. The city looks like a perfect reflection as it twinkles off the calm ocean, the moon reflects it's moonshine off the lake lighting where Harima and Tenma were standing. Harima looks his eyes on Tenma, whom is still standing in awe over the natural beauty provided to them.

"Tenma, there's a reason I asked you out tonight." Harima tenderly admits to Tenma, as he placed his hands on her shoulders, the moonlight glistening in each others' eyes, "Tenma I love you, I've loved you since the day I saved you from that pervert in the streets, it was because of you I re-envisioned myself, became enlightened that my path as a delinquent would only bring sorrow and despair to those around me. It is my love for you that has inspired these changes in me, so I can be a better person, not only for myself, but for you and those around me." As Harima speaks he never takes his eyes off of Tenma's, his voice, impassioned.

Tenma is taken aback by his feelings of lust towards her, with Harima's hands still on her shoulders, she slowly turns her head looking over the vista again. With Tenma's lack of a response Harima begins to sweat, almost trying to bring attention back to himself, as if Tenma has forgotten about him. After what Harima perceives as torture, Tenma finally responds to him. "I'm sorry, Harima." Tenma says softly, as she backs away from Harima "I don't love you back, I still want to hold out for Karasuma, I didn't mean to hurt you or lead you on, I thought you might have had feelings for me, but I didn't really know so I kept my mouth shut." While she's saying this she suddenly realizes all the times Harima acted strange around her, and the similar 'confessions' of love he had expressed in the past to Eri and Mikoto. Harima, unable to say anything, just looked down at the ground, dejected. "I think I'm ready to go home." Harima just nods his head as they descend the Vista.

As Harima escorted Tenma back home, upon his motorcycle, the mood was that of melancholy and despair. Tenma's frame of mind was just as somber, as she continued to dwell over the events that took place over the course of the night. The scenery, that only a few hours earlier seemed to be the perfect backdrop for an enchanted night of romance and new possibilities, now seemed to mock Harima, as if whimsy has turned to misery.

They arrive at Tenma's home and she slowly gets off the bike.

She bows her head slowly and speaks in a tone of voice akin to that of her sister's, "Thank-you for tonight." she speaks searching for me to say, opting to say nothing more.

"Yeah." Harima responds, his voice cracking, trying to cover the lump in his throat, "I'll see you later."

He rides off, Tenma watches him until he is no longer visble, 'Harima, I'm sorry.' she thinks to herself as her eyes begin to swell.


	4. The Burden of Human Sorrow

A week has passed since Harima's ill fated confession, and he has yet to return to school. Noticing this Tenma voices her concern with her friends.

"I'm really worried about Harima, you guys."

"Why?" questions Eri, "It's not like it's the first time he's pulled this crap, besides it's only been a week. He's left for far longer times in the past." Her words echo that of her attitude, cold, but not without some compassion.

"I suppose but he wasn't so depressed those times." brings up Mikoto.

Eri shrugs off Mikoto and Tenma's concerns again.

The bell rings and class begins. Tenma, despite her efforts, can't focus on class as she just looks out the window wondering where Harima is.

We see a shrine, shrouded in the heart of a forest just outside of town, the trees are coming back to life after the long winter, cherry blossoms slowly falling to the grass, which is a healthy green. We see a man slumped over on the right side of the shrine, he's wearing a baseball cap and a light jacket, there are some wrappers littered around him, it appears as though he's been there for days. His body is pale and his face is tired. The anguish of unrequited love he's carrying in his heart is showing it's self in Harima's appearance. His eyes are glassy, bloodshot, and vacant, this would certainly cause concern or uneasiness, however in this remotest area he has been ignored, as if he were a vagrant. Harima has done very little since he's found refugee in the forest, little more than reflecting on his current predicament.

'I'm not sure what to do now, I don't want to go back to school, but I don't think I'm wanted at home. I can't run away though, no again, maybe I should just drop-out and leave to another city.'

He slumps down further, eyes swelled, tears running down his face, as he falls asleep.

The next day, just as if he were a man with a purpose, Harima gets up from where he had spent a weeek of his days and nights. Looking out upon the forest he realizes what he must do. Gathering the meager items he had brought with him he departs the shrine, forever.

At the same time all of this is going on we see Eri at home, lost in thought.

'I shouldn't really care about the dumbass things Harima does in his life, the idiot. But, why can't I stop worrying about him? Maybe I should call Tenma, see how she's dealing with it today.'

She contemplates this for some time, before choosing rather to head to a shrine. At this time we see Harima again, trying to get his motorcycle started.

"Come on you piece of shit, START!" he barks at his bike. He tries to start it again, to no avail. He gets off his motorcycle and starts poking his head around his bike. He does this for a few minutes and then, "Hey what's this?" he looks at the gas tank which has a hole in it and directly beneath it some pavement that had fuel on it some days ago, but has since dried. Trying to hold his composure he steps away from the bike and let's out a loud agonizing scream. "Oh god!" he yells again, falling to the ground in turmoil, as if he were carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders, "This just sucks," he starts crying "I want to get away but I can't now. I should've never confessed, I shouldn't have even woke up today." his voice sounding more and more down with every passing moment. He slumps down by his bike and weeps.

'What's that noise.' Eri thinks to herself as Harima's soft sobbing has perked her ears as she walks ever closer to the sound, 'Oh it's just Harima.'. Without so much as a glance back at him, Eri continues on her way.


	5. Solace

This is my final chapter for my first fan-fiction, in it I feel I have gone with a melancholy feel, as I think most of the story has been since the second chapter. I'm very sure this is going to be my most hated chapter of the updates, but one must face criticism in order to grow and to convey one's own story.

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Harima continues to kneel beside his motorcycle, the pavement below his head has been stained by the myriad amount of tears that had and continue to fall from his face. With little hope of a relationship between himself and Tenma, he begins to wonder about the days that will proceed him should he return to school and society itself.

'Day one.' he begins to conjure up, 'wake up, go to school, see Tenma,' he lets out a small yelp, as if wincing in pain, 'go home, cry, sleep.'.

Harima proceeds to count on the days up to day 35, each day consisting of the same mundane routine, and evertime he utters Tenma's name he lets out a sharp yelp. His tears continue to fall, realizing within himself that he has no value without Tenma.

"I'm not needed, it's been days since I've left home, I can't go home, but I can't run away either, I have nowhere left to go, like a mouse whose world has become so narrowed that he must run into the trap." says Harima, his voice filled with pessimism, narrating his thoughts to no one in particular.

Looking as dejected and unwanted as possible, Harima reaches into a bag on the motorcycle and pulls out a .45 magnum revolver, loaded with only a single bullet. So with no friends left to turn to and the girl he had lusted over for a year rejecting him he sees no other way of carrying on, not as it once was. Nowhere to run to, no one to turn to, he can only imagine solace at the end of a barrel. Finding nothing left in this earthly existence, he pulls the gun slowly to his temple, tears running down his face, he pulls back the hammer. After a moment of final contemplation Harima says, "Let this be my fond farewell my love.", he drops the hammer and a bullet enters into his temple, and in an instant he is no longer on this plane of existence.

His now deceased body hits the ground with a dull thump and a soft splat as blood continues to pour through the open wound. The crimson liquid continues to pour out onto the asphalt, glistening as the sun reaches noon hour. A gust of window blows the blooming cherry blossoms across his rotting body, a single blossom falls into the puddle of blood, before being blown away almost as quickly as it came. As sad as it is for one to die we must always remember that we must find our own way to deal with love, rejection and fear, his own kind of torment is now over.


End file.
